What’s different is the timing — with the expiration 0f the Bush-era tax cuts slated at year’s end, and automatic spending cuts looming if no agreement is reached, the imperative for cutting a deal is big. The re-elected President Barack Obama has engaged with Boehner and other leaders by phone this week, and he has returned to Washington.

Obama wants to raise tax rates for the wealthiest. Boehner refuses. Boehner wants to look at entitlement spending. Obama may have to.

Now it’s a question of finding the “right conditions” for an agreement.